Can anyone help please..

I have been playing guildwars a while now, but only recently uypdated to windows vista (say over the last 2 weeks) sp1 was installed yesterday and now when i play gw it seems to be pixelating from the centre of the screen, i took some screenshots to show.Within about 2 mins of playing the game it starts doing it whether i am ingame or the title screen, i would be very grateful for any ideas on what this could be , i have a theory that my graphics card is about to die on me but would like to make sure first.






My pc specs are:
Cpu: Amd Athlon 2500+ @1.8ghz (socket A)
Gfx: Xpertvision Geforce 6600 256mb Agp @(300/500) i`m using forceware 177.66 drivers.
Ram: 768mb 256mb x 3
OS: Windows vista home (sp1)
no sound as yet

try change graphics settings, install new drivers, and in last resort uninstall SP1.
was everything running smooth before SP1? if not return to the previous OS

i tried vista for 1 month had to return to XP due to drivers issues and explorer always crashing

ive just tried 3dmark 03 (benchmark utility) and it does it on that too, thx for your speedy response i will try nvidia drivers, ive tried 175.19 (puter was very sluggish with those) but seeing as my gfx card is getting on a bit now im not totally sure if they the right drivers, i have been on xpertvision`s site and all they can offer me is a manual for my card :/, can anyone recommend any nvidia drivers for a 6600, like you said if that dont work i will roll back sp1 (if i can :/)

the 169.21 driver is stable for geforce 6600. give that a try.

ok will do i unistalled sp1 , still had the problem , just unistalled my drivers so will try them . Thx.

i had this same problem right down to the colors and it was my motherboard. its was like deja vu when i saw those screenies. i hope your issues clear up. good luck!!!!


Cronk

Heh seen this kinda of thing a few times, though not in Guildwars. A vertex with some insane transform or positioned at infinity ...

As you say it's quite likely a problem with your GPU or graphics memory. Cards do tend to spack out like that when they are on the decline. However it could also be driver related.

Id try:

Swapping it out for a different card if possible and see if it persists.
Updating your gfx drivers, or if you are bang up to date, rolling back a version or two and trying those.
You could try updating you mobo BIOS/firmware.

If you are interested in your PC beyond gaming, I'd also suggest running memcheck and giving your rig a thrash with prime 95. They are both good means to determine if you have a hardware fault (Google em).

Good luck.

Do not uninstall Service Pack 1, that's not the source of the problem. In fact, reinstall it ASAP.

God, your PC must hate you for putting Vista on it without even having 1GB of RAM. I think you just gave it a brain aneurysm.

And that is driver corruption. The new drivers should fix it. If not, please let us know.

I did a reinstall, after i tried various things ,seeing as i only have a few items on my hdd i thought ok fresh install ,just loaded up gw spent about 2-3 mins walking back and forth and could see the beginnings of the problem again, i am currently installing sp1 again and will try the new drivers then let you know what happen .Thanks again everyone for your responses,really appreciate it.

Hi again,just installed nvidia drivers 175.19 ,new ones i believe, and it still has the problem, so now i am starting to believe my gfx card is about to die, i will keep trying various ideas . sleep for me now.

Those system specs are really low - any chance you could go back to XP? Like Rahja, I'm surprised that Vista would even install.

With your system specs, I am surprised Vista even runs. I would advise going back to XP and installing a 91 series driver. (I would never install anything higher with less than 1GB of RAM.) I really don't think you have enought RAM to run 169 properly. Any of the Nvidia drivers above 91 have the new control panel that really hogs a lot of memory.
If you are determined to stick with Vista, Reinstall it, install service pack 1 then install nothing higher than 169. Then pray.

ok i will, try that, i still have my xp on another harddrive ,i tried it lastnight with the 169.21 drivers and it was still having the problem, so i will find sum old drivers and like you say hope it works... "i will never give up lol",but i have noticed the difference between OS xp loaded gw alot quicker and i had about 35 fps more :/.

EDIT:
Hi all again, ok i have tried new drivers and old on vista, new drivers and old on xp installed sp1 ands reinstalled , reinstalled vista and now i think i will clean the inch thick dust off my mobo , cpu h/f, gfx card and ram, wish me luck.


EDIT 2:
Ok, cleaned my computer, fitted it all back together, had it on its side and i noticed the fan on my gfx card was not spinning, , so i got a cpu fan off a old comp and fitted it to the top of the gfx card and plugged it in case fan lol, so far so good.............will give it a good test later. I`m crossing my fingers that is was only the card getting to hot....so if i dont post on here again today it works and thank you guys for all your imput.

Post either way. It helps people know the thread is resolved and to what end. And if you had that much dust you probably had insane heat buildup. I would be surprised if your graphics card was severely damaged as a result.

Ok guys been playing all evening and its good now, so looks like it was because the gfx card fan wasnt working (good job i noticed lol), thank you all tho, for your imput.